


The Fallen Angel - Fall of Azrael

by Ghosthiro62



Category: Dominion (TV), Legion (TV), Lucifer (TV), Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Angel/Human Relationships, Changelings, Darkness, F/M, Falling In Love, Fate & Destiny, Forgiveness, Heaven & Hell, Heavy Angst, Matter of Life and Death, Redemption, Rescue, Strangers to Lovers, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:13:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23602879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghosthiro62/pseuds/Ghosthiro62
Summary: Azrael, an angel of death, struggles with human emotion. To follow orders or to interfere? Change the fate, find love.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

He was Azrael, the Angel of Death, tasked with helping humans to cross the bridge between the spiritual realm and the material world. For centuries, he was ushering multitudes to their final destination. Now he was perched next to the spire of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, looking like one of the statues that decorated its facade. The winds were whipping around mercilessly, bringing the cold spray from the Atlantic but Azrael was not aware of the cold. He watched intently as his next customer arrived. The woman he watched tonight was small, with long, black hair, and skin a pale cream. The wind whipped her hair back, jerking it away from her face as she hurried down the stone steps of the cathedral. The doors had been locked. She hadn’t made it inside. No chance to pray.

Pity.

He slipped to the side of the cathedral, still watching her as she edged down the narrow alleyway below. He’d taken others from this place before. The path seemed to scream with the memories of the past.

“No!”

That wasn’t the past, screaming. His body stiffened. His wings beat at the air around him. It was her.

Jade Pierce. Schoolteacher. Age twenty-nine. A woman who tutored children on the weekends. A woman who’d tried to live her life just right …A woman who was dying tonight.  
His eyes narrowed as he leapt from his perch. Time to go in closer.

Jade’s attacker had her against the wall. One of the man’s hands was over her mouth, the better to make sure she didn’t scream again. His other hand slammed against the front of her chest and held her pinned against the cold stone wall.  
She was fighting harder than Azrael had really expected. Struggling. Kicking.  
Her attacker just laughed.

And Azrael watched—as he’d always watched. So many years …

Tears streamed down Jade’s cheeks. The man holding her leaned in and licked them away. Azrael’s gut clenched. Knowing that her time was at hand, he’d watched Jade for a few weeks now. He’d slipped into her classroom and listened to the soft drawl of her voice. He’d watched as her lips curled into a smile and a dimple winked in her right cheek.

He’d seen laughter in her eyes. Seen longing. Seen … life.  
Now her green eyes were filled with the stark, wild terror that only the helpless can truly know.  
He didn’t like that look in her eyes. His hands clenched.

Don’t look if you don’t like it. His gaze pulled away from her face. The job wasn’t about what he liked. It never had been.

There’d never been a choice. I only have orders to follow.

That was the way it had always been. So why did it bother him, now? Because it was her? Because he’d watched too much? Slipped beside her too often?

Temptation.

“This is gonna hurt …” The man’s grating whisper scratched through Azrael’s mind. Neither the attacker nor Jade could see him. Not yet. One touch—that was all it would take. But the time hadn’t come for her yet.  
“The wind’s so loud …” The man lifted his hand off Jade’s mouth. “No one’s gonna hear you scream anyway.”

But she still screamed—a loud, long, desperate scream—and she kept fighting.

Azrael truly hadn’t realized she’d struggle so much against death. Some didn’t fight at all when the time came. Others fought until he had to drag them away.  
Fabric ripped. Tore. The guy had jerked her shirt, rending the material. Azrael glimpsed the soft ivory of her bra and the firm mounds of her breasts.  
Help her. The urge came from deep within, but it was an urge he couldn’t heed.

“Don’t!” Jade yelled. “Please—no! Just let me go!”

Her attacker lifted his head. Azrael stared at him, noting the gaunt features, the black hair, and the eyes that were too dark for a normal man. “No, baby. I’m not lettin’ you go.” The guy licked his lips. “I’m too damn hungry.” Then he smiled and revealed sharpened teeth that no human could possess.

Jade opened her mouth to scream again and the demon sank his teeth into her throat. Then he started drinking from her, gulping and growling and Jade’s fingernails raked against his face as she struggled against him.

But it was too late to fight. She’d never be strong enough to break away from the demon. She was five feet six inches tall. Maybe one hundred thirty-five pounds.

The demon was over six feet. He was lean, but muscle mass and weight didn’t really matter—not when you were talking about a demon’s strength.

Azrael stared at the narrow opening of the alley. Soon, he’d be able to touch her and her nightmare would end. Soon.

“You’re just going to stand there?” Her voice cracked.

His head whipped back toward her. Those green eyes—fury and fear—were locked on him.

Impossible.

She shouldn’t see him yet. It wasn’t time. The demon hadn’t taken enough blood from her.

Jade slammed her hands into the demon’s chest, but he kept his teeth in her throat and didn’t so much as stumble. Her neck was tilted back, her head angled, and her stare was on—

Me.

“Help me.” She mouthed the words as tears slipped down her cheeks. “Please.”

Her plea seemed to slip right inside of him. “I will.” The words felt rusty, and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d talked to a human. No need for talk, not really. Not when you were just carting souls. “Soon …”

The demon’s head lifted. Her blood stained his mouth and chin. “Baby, you taste so good.”

Her body slumped as her knees buckled. Azrael’s wings stretched behind him even as his muscles tensed.  
“Grade Fucking A,” the demon muttered and he eased back. Why stop feeding? The demon planned to kill her. Azrael knew that. Jade Pierce was dying tonight.  
Jade’s hand rose to her throat. Her fingers were shaking. “Y-you’re not real …” Her eyes never left Azrael.

“Oh, I’m damn real.” The demon swiped the back of his hand over his chin. “Guess what, sweet thing? All those stories you heard? About the demons and this city? Every damn one of ’em tales is true.”

Jade didn’t look at the demon. She kept her eyes on Azrael as she inched her way down the alley. With every slow move, her hands pressed against the wall.  
“You gonna run?” The demon taunted. “Oh, damn, I love it when they run.” Yes, he did. Most demons did. They liked the thrill of the hunt.  
“Why don’t you help me?” She yelled at Azrael, and the wind took the words, making them into a whisper as they left the alley.

That was the way. Sometimes, no one could ever hear the screams.  
The demon seemed to finally realize his prey wasn’t focused on him. The demon around, turning so that he nearly brushed against Azrael. “What the f**k?” The guy demanded. “Bitch, no one’s—”

Jade’s footsteps pounded down the alley. Smart. Azrael almost smiled. Had she ever even seen him? Or had her words all been a trick to escape?

The demon laughed, then he lunged after her. Four steps and the parasite leapt at her, tackling Jade to the ground, and keeping her trapped in the alley. Glass shattered when she fell—a beer bottle that had been tossed aside. She crashed into it and the bottle smashed beneath her weight.

“You’re gonna beg for death,” the demon promised her.

Perhaps. Azrael slowly stalked toward them. He lifted his hand, aware of the growing cold in the air. The stories about death’s cold touch were true. Jade’s time was at hand.

“Please, God, no!” Jade cried.

God had other plans. That was why an angel of death had been sent to collect her.

The demon’s hands were at her throat. His claws dug into her skin. The scent of decay and cigarettes swirled in the air around Azrael.

“Flowers,” Jade whispered. “I smell …”

Him. Angels often carried a floral scent. Humans caught a trace of that scent all the time, but never realized they weren’t alone.

The demon sank his teeth into Jade’s throat again. She didn’t even have the voice to scream now. Tears leaked from her eyes.

Azrael knelt beside her. The first time he’d seen her, he’d thought …

Beautiful.

Now, covered in garbage and blood, still fighting a demon, still struggling to live …

Beautiful.

It was time. His hand lifted toward her and hovered over her tangled hair. His fingers were so close to touching her. Just an inch, maybe two, separated them. But …

He hesitated.

A fire burned in his gut. She didn’t deserve this brutal end to her human life. From what he’d seen, Jade had been good. She’d tried to help others. His jaw ached and he realized he’d been clenching his teeth.

His gaze drifted to the demon. It would be so easy to stop him and take one more monster from the world.

Forbidden. The order burned into his mind. He wasn’t supposed to interfere. That wasn’t the way. Wasn’t allowed. He was to collect his charge and move on. Those were the rules.

He’d take Jade this night, and someone else would wait on him tomorrow. There were always more humans. More souls. More death.

Her hands fell limply to her sides as the demon drank from her, and her head turned toward Azrael.

There was gold buried in her eyes. He’d thought her eyes were solid emerald, but now he could see the gold glinting in her eyes. Angels had strong vision—in darkness or light—but he’d never noticed that gold before.

Her eyes locked right on him. She was so close to passing. He had no doubt that she saw him then.

“Don’t worry,” he told her. The demon wouldn’t hear him. No one but Jade would hear his voice. “The pain is already ending for you.” His hand still reached for her. He’d wanted to touch her before. To see if her skin was as soft as it looked. But he knew just how dangerous such a touch would be—to both of them.

Azrael well understood what happened to those of his kind when they did not obey their orders.

Despite popular belief, angels were not the favored ones. They did not have choices like the humans. Angels had only duty.

“I don’t …” Her words were barely a whisper. Had the demon already savaged her neck too much for speech? “D-don’t … want to … die …”

The demon gulped down her blood, growling as he drank.

“Don’t … let me …” Her lashes began to fall. The fingers of her right hand began to curl inward, and her wrist brushed against the jagged glass. “Die …”

There was so much desperation in her voice, but he’d heard desperation before. Heard fear. Heard lies. Promises.

But he’d never heard them from her.

Azrael didn’t touch her. His hand eased back as he hesitated.

Hesitated.

He’d taken a thousand souls. No, far more. But her …

Why her? Why tonight? She’s barely lived.The demon should be the one to go, not—

Jade let out a guttural groan. Azrael blinked and his wings rustled behind him. No, he had a job to do. He would do it—

Jade grabbed a thick shard of broken glass and wrenched it up. She shoved it into the demon’s neck and caught him right in the jugular. His blood spilled over her as the demon jerked back, howling in pain and fury.

Her throat was a mess, ripped flesh, blood—so much blood. Hers. The demon’s. Jade grabbed another chunk of glass and swung again with a slice to the demon’s neck.

Fighting.

She was fighting desperately for every second of life that she had left. And he was supposed to just stop her? Supposed to take her away when she struggled so hard to live?

You’ve done it before. Do it again.

So many humans. So little life. So much death.

“Bitch! I’ll cut you open—”

The demon would. In that instant, Azrael could see everything the demon had planned for Jade. Her death would be ten times more brutal now. The future had already altered for her. Because I hesitated.

“I’ll rip your heart out—”

Yes, in the end, he’d do that, too.

She’d die with her eyes open, with fear and blood choking her.

“I’ll shred that pretty face—”

Her coffin would be closed.

The fire twisting in Azrael’s gut burned hotter, brighter with every slow second that passed. Why her? She’d … soothed him before. When he’d heard her voice, it had seemed to flow through him. And when she’d laughed …

He’d liked the sound of her laughter. Sweet, free.

“Help … me …” Her broken voice.

Azrael squared his shoulders. What did she see when she looked at him? A monster just like the demon? Or a savior?

“No one f**kin’ cares about you …” The demon yanked the glass out of his neck. More blood sprayed on Jade. “You’ll die alone, and no one will even notice you’re gone.”

I will notice. Because she wouldn’t be there for him to watch anymore. She’d be far beyond Azrael’s reach. He didn’t know paradise, only death.  
She tried to push off the ground, but couldn’t move. The blood loss had gotten to her and made her the perfect prey.

The demon smiled at her. “I’m gonna start with that pretty face.”

Jade shook her head and swiped out with the glass. The wounds didn’t stop the demon. Nothing was going to stop him. No one. Jade would scream and suffer and then finally—die.

And Azrael would watch. Every moment.

No.

His hand lifted, rising in that last, final touch. His touch could steal life and rip the soul right of a body.

He reached out—and locked his fingers around the demon’s shoulder.

The demon jerked and shuddered as if an electric charge had blasted through him. Azrael didn’t try to soften his power. He wanted the demon to hurt. Wanted him to suffer.

And that was wrong. Angels of Death weren’t supposed to want vengeance. They weren’t supposed to get angry. They weren’t supposed to care.

Killing the demon was wrong. Against orders. But …

She will hurt no more.

The demon would not slash her pale skin. He wouldn’t carve open her chest or defile her body.

He’d just die.

The demon fell to the ground, his body as hard as the stones beneath him.

Azrael didn’t worry about the creature’s soul. Those headed to the pit needed no courier. But Jade …

Her breath rasped out as her chest heaved. She was still alive, but barely. His hands lifted to her savaged throat, the move an instinctual gesture.

Stop the blood.

But he didn’t touch her. Couldn’t. Because, this time, he didn’t want to kill.

“Help …” Her desperate whisper made his chest ache.

His wings beat against the air. No humans were close enough to save her.

She was suffering, but she’d keep living. Until he touched her, she wouldn’t die, no matter how bad her wounds were.

Help. Right then, killing her would be kinder than the nightmare she faced as she fought for every breath.

“L-live …”

But she didn’t want to let go. He’d met a soldier like her once, lifetimes ago. A man who fought on, determined to hold back the cold touch of death. The soldier had been gutted, but he’d fought, desperate to stay alive, despite the pain.

Azrael hadn’t expected to find that same fierce spirit in the schoolteacher. He should have remembered the lesson humans had taught him before: Appearances could be deceiving.

Her lashes began to flicker, yet her heart still beat. He could hear the too-fast rhythm.

End this. Death would be kinder than this pain.

But he couldn’t touch her.

His hands clenched and he tossed back his head as he yelled into the night.

That was when the wind hit him with the force of an avalanche, slamming into his body, lifting him up, and tossing him in the air, higher, higher. The wind took him away from the woman who fought so valiantly below.

The night sky whipped past him as the whisper of a thousand voices filled his ears. A dim light appeared, growing brighter, brighter—beckoning him upward, then blinding him when he got too close.

Darkness.

Azrael blinked and found himself on his knees. He’d been tossed onto a gleaming marble floor. Azrael knew who would stand before him even before he allowed his gaze to lift.

“What have you done, Azraei?

Azrael closed his eyes and saw a woman bleeding out in an empty alley. Shivering with cold. “She still lives.” He rose to his feet, letting his wings spread behind his back.

“You confess to disobeying your orders.You disobey—”.

“You knew the penalty for such an act.” 

Yes, he knew he had to answer for taking the demon’s soul, but—

“I’m sorry, Azrael. You … you were a good angel.”

“I didn’t—”

“No, you did not. That’s the problem.” And there was sadness cloaking the words, when there was never any emotion. Never much emotion in any of them.

No love. No fear. No hate. Only duty. That was the way it should have been.

Except when I looked at her, I … felt.  
“Temptation can destroy us all. You had the chance to obey. You knew when the moment of her death was at hand, but you killed one not on your list.”

“He was a demon!” The rage was new—something that had developed only when he saw the pain Jade suffered. “He was torturing, killing, he deserved—”

“We all get what we deserve.”

What?

“I’ve heard it’s the fire that makes you scream the loudest.”

There was no fire—

The wind hit Azrael again, wrapping around him, but this time, its grasp felt like the edge of a hundred blades.

“Did you think we did not know the lust you held in your heart?”

What would angels know of lust? What would they know of anything but following orders, protecting the weak, living in that vast, blank world of nothing?

“Why do you think she was given to you?” 

And he finally understood. A test. One he’d failed because he hadn’t been able to watch Jade slip away.

“You broke the rules. You took a life not yours to extinguish.” A cold voice floated to him. “And you failed in your duty.”

But there was no answer. Nothing but the wind howling. And then the fire came.

The fire ripped through his body, starting at his feet, burning up, up, even as Azrael fell, plummeting from the sky.

Expelled from my home.

He flapped his wings as he tried to fight that controlling wind, but—

He cried out in agony as the fire spread to his wings. This was no phantom fire—real flames ate at his skin and burned his flesh. Burned his wings, his wings—No!

He’d never known pain, but after this day, he would never forget it.

The wind stopped. His body hovered in the air, his shoulders hunched and his wings burning. He tried to move his wings, tried—

He dropped, falling straight for the earth below, and he burned as he fell. Burned and burned.

A Fallen...


	2. Chapter 2

Azrael was staring into the night. Another lousy night in the place that oozed sin. The New Orleans. This was the place where he fell, where his wings burned. The hell.

“Help me!”

The scream ripped through the night, close, and Azrael’s senses heightened. Over the odor of rotten garbage, stale cigarettes and old booze, he caught the scent of . . . fear and animals. Not just one beast, either.

“Stay away from me!” - a woman screamed, and now he could hear the fear mixing with rage in her words.

Even as hard, biting laughter floated to his ears, Az found himself heading toward the mouth of a dark alley. Heading toward the sound of her screams. 

As he rounded the tight corner, Az saw the men first. Three of them. Big, hulking guys who’d closed in on their prey. Az couldn’t even see the woman, but he knew she had to be in the middle of the half-circle of men. A brick wall waited behind them, trapping her. There was no place for her to flee.

Az entered the alley and waited for a sign.

The cold whisper of Death hadn’t come to this place. Not yet. If it had, Az would have felt the presence of another Death Angel. He always could sense his own kind, even if he wasn’t ruling the cold bastards anymore.

But Death wasn’t there. So the woman wasn’t about to die, at least not yet.

Just then, the woman shoved through her attackers, and he saw her face. Wide, desperate green eyes, pale skin, dark red lips and—

“Help me!” She yelled the words at him.

Az didn’t move. For thousands of years, his job had been to watch those who were dying. To wait until the last moment—and only then had he been allowed to touch. As a Death Angel, his touch killed. It took the soul straight from the body, and he carried that precious burden to the realm that waited beyond this world. It was his job . . .No longer.

He’d watched innocents die. Seen them slaughtered in times of war and peace. Seen murderers walk the earth, killing over and over, and he—

“Asshole, help me!” She snarled at Az, and he blinked. “Don’t just stand there staring,” the woman snapped. “Help—”

A guy with black hair and a leather jacket grabbed her around the stomach and hauled her back against him. “He knows better than to go gettin’ involved, Jade.” A heavy drawl coated his words. “Knows that if he tries playin’ white knight . . .” The guy looked up with a crooked grin that flashed too-sharp teeth, “he’ll get himself killed.”

That was when Az noticed the claws that had risen to wrap around the woman’s throat. Not normal human fingernails. Instead, two-inch long, razor sharp claws sprang from the man’s hand.  
So not just regular mortal jerks. “Shifters,” Az muttered as he rolled his shoulders. Interesting. Perhaps the night had just picked up for him.

All three guys were sporting claws and toothy grins. But the woman—no, no sign of claws or fangs from her, and she smelled . . .Like strawberries.  
He frowned. He’d recently developed a taste for the sweet fruit, and even ten feet away, he could catch the female’s heady fragrance.

His body tensed.

“Back away!” Another man snarled. This one had a dark, tribal tattoo that snaked up his arm and the side of his neck. “Back away or start bleeding.” Az didn’t back away. He kept his hands at his sides. Finally, a challenge. And here he’d been bored for days. “Let the woman go.” His voice rang out, calm but strong.

The tattooed shifter laughed, then he charged right at Az. Az held onto his control—careful, careful—and when the shifter swiped out with his claws, Az tossed a ball of fire right at the fool. The jerk howled in pain and dropped to the ground, rolling as he tried to put out the flames. Fried shifter.

The woman stared at Az with eyes gone even wider as her lips parted in stunned surprise. He almost smiled. Poor little human. The humans never realized just how dangerous their mortal world was. They truly were lambs out walking blindly with wolves. Or shifters.

“Duncan, f**k!” The shifter still holding the woman stared in shock at his burning friend and then glared at Az. “You just asked for death.”

Az didn’t stop his smile from spreading this time. “No, you did.”

The shifter threw the woman against the nearby wall, and Az heard the sickening thud as her head hit the bricks. Then the leader and his backup dog both charged at Az. Az thought about playing with more fire, but he opted to get his hands dirty this time. He punched out, striking so fast he knew the shifters wouldn’t even be able to see the movements of his hands and body, and in seconds, they were on the ground, bleeding and broken.

He dusted off his hands. Hmmm . . . He hadn’t even gotten blood on his knuckles. Perhaps he was getting better at this business of physical fighting.

When he was sure they weren’t about to rise, he stepped over their prone bodies and stalked toward the woman.

This was an entirely new situation for Az. He hadn’t just watched this time. The knowledge sank into him as he approached her. An innocent hadn’t died while he looked on. Az reached for her. A faint line of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. Gently, because he could show gentleness, he wiped the blood away and gazed down at her.

Humans were too weak. They could be broken and killed far too easily. He knew. He’d killed thousands of them in his time.

He lifted her into his arms and her head rolled back against his shoulder. The scent of strawberries was stronger, and a strange ache burned in his chest even as a rough tightness filled his body.

Her lashes cast dark shadows on her cheeks, and the flickering glow of a streetlight fell through the alley and hit the black curtain of her hair.

Holding her carefully, he turned toward the alley’s entrance. Police sirens screamed in the distance, and, though it was already nearing dawn, he could still hear the drunken laughter that floated on the breeze.

During Mardi Gras, no one ever slept in this city.

“D-dumb . . . bastard . . .” It was the shifter who’d held the woman moments before. He spat blood on the ground and tried to rise. Failed. Since Az had broken both of his legs, the guy would need to shift in order to heal. Az figured he had a few more moments before the man had enough strength to shift.

Before any of them did.

And he and his human would be long gone by then. Tightening his arms around her, he stepped over the broken bodies once more and ignored the growled curses that filled the air.

As he left the alley, he tossed one last stare back at the shifters. “Come after me, and you’ll only find death.” He felt it was only fair to warn them. If they chose to ignore his helpful warning . . .Then they could meet death.

The rage in their already glowing eyes had another smile lifting his lips. You’ll come for me. So be it. He turned and stalked into the waning night with his human.

She was soft in his arms, a lightweight. Did she know how lucky she’d been? Probably not. In his experience, most humans were completely oblivious to the dangers that surrounded them.

The majority of humans roaming the earth didn’t even know about the existence of the Other, all of the paranormal creatures that often walked right beside mortals. Demons, vampires, djinn—all of the so-called monsters were real.

Humans just didn’t realize that fact.

The woman he held was a human who’d survived a pack shifter attack. He figured the odds of that survival were usually about a million to one.

Of course, those odds changed considerably when a Fallen became involved.  
Few creatures on this earth were stronger than he was.  
He snaked through the streets, turning left, right, and no one he passed so much as blinked in surprise at the sight of an unconscious, bloody woman in his arms.

Mardi Gras.

He’d just reached the steps of his apartment in the Quarter when an animal’s roar reached him. The loud, ferocious cry of a big cat.

Az stilled. The men had shifted faster than he expected.

He hurried inside his apartment and kicked the door closed behind him. Then he carried her to the couch. The woman’s eyes were still closed when he placed her on the cushions and a faint moan slipped from her lips as he eased her out of his arms.

Az stepped back and stared down at her. Pretty, he supposed. She had delicate, almost innocent features that were belied by the plump fullness of her mouth. His gaze tracked down her body. Humans were obsessed with sex. He’d always known that, so he supposed human males would be pleased with the woman’s curving body and long, long legs. He was—pleased.

Az blinked. What the—

Her eyes opened. No innocence. Big, dark green and so deep Az took one look into her eyes and thought of tangled sheets, naked flesh, and the pleasures that humans took in the dark.

I want pleasure.

Her brow furrowed as she stared up at him. Then he saw understanding come flooding back to her in an instant. She jumped up and let out an ear-splitting shriek.

When she went to run by him, Az just stepped out of her way. If she wanted to race right back to the pack . . . “It will just be your funeral,” he said, shrugging. He’d done his good deed for the century.

His bored tone stopped her. She glanced back over her shoulder at him and blinked.

“They’re probably hunting you now.” He walked away from her and headed toward the window that looked out over the street. “Hunting us,” he added quietly and realized he was anticipating the fight. When had he come to crave the fury? When had the bloodlust grown so within him?

She stood as still as a statue before his door. Her hand was up, hovering above the doorknob, and he could almost feel the fear rolling off her in waves.

But then she took a deep breath, and he saw her small shoulders straighten. She shoved back the heavy tangle of her hair and turned to face him. “How did you get us away from them?”

Az shrugged once more.

She took a step toward him. “You . . . you know what they are, right?”

Amusement flared in him. “I did notice the claws.” Rather hard to miss those.

She blinked, and her eyes narrowed as she studied him. He’d never seen quite that shade of green before. She crept closer, bringing that light scent of strawberries to him. When she stopped, she was less than a foot away from him. It would be so easy to touch her.

Though he knew well just how dangerous a touch could be.

Yet she stood close enough to kiss. But angels weren’t supposed to kiss mortals . . .

You’re not an angel anymore. The whisper came from deep inside of him. The same tempting whisper that he’d been fighting since his fall.

You’re not an angel. Do what you want. Take what you want.

He was discovering that he could want many things.

The top of the woman’s head barely reached his shoulders. She tilted her head and stared up at him. Then her gaze swept down his body.

Az stiffened even before she whispered, “What are you?”

Rather insulting question. “I’m the man who saved your life.” Did she need to know more? He didn’t think so.

Her hand lifted and pressed against her mouth. A small trace of blood still rested near her lips. “There were three of them, and, you’re big and all, but there’s still just one of you.”

She might just be one of the most ungrateful humans he’d ever encountered. Stifling a sigh, Az inclined his head. “You’re welcome.”

She stared in surprise for a moment. Then she laughed. A soft, strangely lyrical sound spilled from her lips, and her wide smile lit up her face.

Not just pretty.

Az tensed as the wave of need hit him. Not lust for blood or death. This time . . . the lust was just for her.

You’re not an angel anymore. Take what you want.

“Yeah,” she said, as her laughter faded but the smile still lingered on her lips, “thanks for saving my ass.” Then she held out her hand to him. “My name’s Jade. Jade Pierce.”

He stared at her hand. She wiggled her fingers at him. Slowly, Az lifted his own hand and caught those wiggling fingers. Soft. “I am Azrael.” He dropped her hand. He hadn’t used the name Azrael in centuries. “Most just call me Az.”

“Well, Az, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Her gaze slid over his body again. “But I’m gonna have to ask, once more, just what are—”

The door crashed in behind her. She didn’t scream this time, but maybe Az just didn’t give her a chance to scream.

Because as the three black panthers—fully shifted panthers—leapt into the room, jumping over the broken door, Az grabbed Jade and threw her toward the couch.

Then he ran right for the snarling beasts.

He should have known better than to let down his guard. Shifters and their damn acute senses. They’d caught his scent, her scent, and followed them right through the Quarter.

“I warned you,” Az snapped and leapt at the nearest panther. He caught the beast’s front paws and shoved the giant cat back. “You should have listened.” There would be no more warnings now. Only death.

With a twist of his hands, Az broke both paws and tossed the cat back through the door  
Ruined my door. That panther had—

Claws dug into his back, driving deep into muscle and scraping bone. Hissing against the pain, Az snapped his teeth together and whirled around in a blur. He reached out as fury slammed through him and Jade’s horrified yell rang in his ears.

Attack. Destroy. Kill.

He touched the panther, and the animal stiffened beneath his fingers. The beast’s blazing gold eyes locked on him. Az’s breath heaved as he demanded, “Ready for hell?”

The scent of flowers swept into the room, blowing in on the breeze from outside. It came right into his home and seemed to surround the shifter.

Az knew well what that scent meant. An Angel of Death was close. Despite what humans may have thought, Death didn’t smell like rot. Death was sweet. The better to tempt and lead away the souls.

Az lifted his hand. The panther fell to the ground. The fur melted away, and he stared down at the tattooed body of the man who’d chosen to seek death. “I warned you.”

A whimper had Az’s head rising. The other panther crouched, and its head swung back and forth between Az and the body on the floor. Az lifted his hand, palm up, toward the beast. “Want to join him?”

The panther spun away and leapt through the window. Glass shattered, and Az bit back a snarl of his own. Something else to fix, dammit.

He rushed to the door. Both the surviving panthers were racing away. His brother Sammael would say they were hauling ass.

Finally. They’d realized they should fear him. And it had only taken the little matter of death to drive that point home.

“You . . . killed him.” Jade whispered from behind him.

Az straightened slowly. His back burned and his shirt stuck to the blood coating his flesh.

“How?” Jade asked. The floor creaked as she came closer to him

She opened her mouth to talk and realized, yep, his hand was still over her mouth. More sirens wailed in the distance. Jade tensed, hoping none of those cops felt the urge to search the area, or, oh, follow the trail of blood that led straight to them.  
He spun her around—spun them around—and pinned her against the bricks. He glared at her, those sky blue eyes of his so bright in the growing dawn. Too bright.

“You don’t want to play with me.” His voice probably would have frightened small children.  
“I know it’s none of my business. . . .” Her words had a husky edge that he found . . . sexy. “But,” she continued in that voice that seemed to stroke right over his flesh, “what happened to your back?”

“I fell.” Flat. The truth.

Her dark brows lifted. “You fell.” Jade gave a slight shake of her head and whistled lightly. “That must have been some fall.”

“It was.” He wanted to touch her again. Touch had been denied to him for centuries, and he hadn’t realized just how pleasurable it was to feel a woman’s skin against his.

So he stalked forward and let his fingers skate down her cheek.

Soft.

“You shouldn’t . . .” Her voice was like a whisper during sex.

“I should.” What else did he have to lose? His gaze locked on her mouth. Red, plump lips. “I want to know what you taste like.”  
She tasted sweeter than strawberries. So sweet. His tongue tasted her and his hands curled around her as he pulled her body closer to his.

There was a job to do. Jade needed him, and if he played this game just right, she might wind up helping him.

A human, hunted by Other. Saving her would be noble. The right thing to do.

A task that might even earn him . . . redemption.

He’d looked at this all wrong before. The fall wasn’t about living in hell. Instead, it was about showing that you belonged in heaven. If he did the job right, if he helped her . . .


	3. Chapter 3

Ten minutes until midnight.

Az stared up at the tombs as they rose over the heavy, brick wall that surrounded the cemetery. The scent of flowers teased his nose, but he knew that scent wasn’t coming from some floral tokens left on the graves by mourners.

You can always catch the scent when Death is close.

A tell-tale sign that an angel was nearby. Death Angels were at their strongest when they were about to take a soul. In those few moments, humans could catch the sweet scent of flowers.

A death scent.

Death didn’t really smell like decay and rot. That smell just came to the bodies after the souls were gone.

Tonight, death was close. Following him.

His eyes narrowed as he scanned the darkness. Who’d be dying tonight?

“Okay, this is as far as you go.” Jade crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him. Her eyes seemed to shine under the light of the moon and stars. “Now you take the motorcycle and go someplace safe.”

His lips twitched. How . . . charming. She thought to protect him once more. She kept doing that, despite what she knew of him. “Trying to get rid of me again?”

She shook her head. “Look, I don’t even understand . . . why do you want to help me? I’m nothing to you!”

Anger stirred within him as the mild amusement vanished. She was hardly nothing.

“I appreciate the white knight routine, believe me, I do, but why?” A faint line appeared between her brows. She stood just a few feet away, on the cracked sidewalk, and asked, “Why do you want to help me? Why are you risking your life for me?”

And the truth came from him. “Because I think you can give my life back to me.”

Her eyes widened. “What?”

He shoved down the kickstand and climbed from the motorcycle so he could close in on her. His gaze tracked to that line of stark tombs that rose over the steep walls. “I’ve been here before.”

“Yeah, well, you, me, and every tourist who wants an up-close look at the cities of the dead—”

“I fell here.”

She didn’t say anything in response to that. Interesting. He’d found that Jade often had plenty to say. Not this time.

Her mouth actually hung open a bit.

He brushed by her and headed for the heavy gates that led into the cemetery. Dark shadows stretched from the entrance. And he remembered . . .

Crashing. Agony. Pain.

“I didn’t know who I was.” Not at first. The descent had been so intense, the fire so hot, that his memories had been wiped from him.

Az crossed the threshold into the cemetery. His gaze swept around, and then he was snaking through the old graves. Left. Right. Moving more by instinct than anything else.

She followed closely behind him. “Az . . .”

“After the fall, no one ever remembers, not at first.” It had been good, too, not knowing. Living in ignorance of the lives he’d taken. The sins he’d committed.

Another turn. Another.

He heard her gasp behind him. Before them, an old crypt had been smashed, and wide cracks spread out from the broken tomb’s middle like spiderwebs. Beside the remains, a broken stone angel looked mournfully at the wreckage.

It only seemed fitting that she’d lost a wing, too.

He stared at that crypt. “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in hell?”

“Yes.”

Frowning, Az glanced back at her.

Her gaze was on him, not the crypt. “We all have our own hell.” Her hand touched his shoulder. “I-I’m not sure what you’re exactly expecting. I can’t give you back heaven.”

Maybe not.

But maybe . . .

“A witch found me.” He turned to better face her, and Jade’s brows lifted at his admission. “She cleaned me up, gave me food, then, just when I was growing stronger, she turned around and sold me out to a bunch of bastards who got off on torturing Other.”

Jade swallowed. “What happened to them?”

She needed to see him for what he was. “I killed them all.” Well, those Sam hadn’t gotten to first, anyway.

She held his stare. “And the witch?”

“Her time will come.” She wouldn’t escape him unscathed. Az planned to make certain of that.

Jade stared up at him in confusion. “You’re standing here telling me that you’re some heartless badass, but you’re helping me so I—”

“I’m helping myself.” The words fell heavily. “You’re a human. Favored. Weak.”

Deceptively so. Humans were gifted with the rush of emotions. With pleasures. Pains.

He could seek vengeance on those who’d wronged him. Vengeance was his by right. But to give her protection, to aid one weaker . . . now that just might be enough to earn some redemption.

“So I’m just the lucky human you saw about to get an ass-kicking? Who I am doesn’t matter? You would risk your life to save any of us?”

He nodded. “Yes.” He would do what was necessary. Protect the weak. Fight and claw his way back to heaven.

Her sigh held a sad edge. “Not all humans need protecting.” A pause. “Not all humans want protecting.” Then she turned away from him. “We also don’t all enjoy being called a ‘temptation’ by some lost Fallen with some intimacy is-sues.”

He blinked and stared after her. Intimacy issues? He’d never been intimate with another. Angels weren’t allowed the luxury of intimacy. “You don’t understand what the world is like, for me.” So much noise. The feelings. The emotions. They were all ripping him apart.

Except . . . except it hadn’t been so bad in the last few days. Not since he’d been with her.

Jade didn’t look back at him. “Was it really that much better up there?”

He didn’t answer.

At his silence, Jade glanced over her shoulder at him. “I mean, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows down here, but we’re alive. That has to count for something, right?”

Something.

“Instead of trying so hard to get back upstairs,” she told him, “maybe you should consider that you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.”

With her.

But then she shook her head and looked away from him. “I think that cop stood us up. And being in a cemetery, at midnight, is not my idea of a good time.”

But even as she spoke, Az heard the rustle of footsteps. Sliding away—or coming closer?

Either way, he took a step toward Jade.

“Muggers hide out here,” she told him, voice quieter now as she scanned the shadows around them. “But they’re not even the start of what we need to fear.”

He knew all about the vampires who liked to stalk the cities of the dead. They’d hide in the dark, waiting for victims who were curious—and even willing—and then they’d strike. Those victims would die.

But it wasn’t a vampire who stepped from the shadows. It was the witch.  
Az didn’t relax his guard, and he could tell by the stiffness of Jade’s shoulders that she wasn’t relaxing hers, either.

“There’s a very high price on your head. You gonna be up for the hunters coming your way?”

He couldn’t wait to face them. A battle would drain some of the growing tension from his body. Tension that increased every time Jade touched his skin.

Want her. He’d stroked her flesh. Tasted her. And learned why mortals killed for pleasure. Az shoved those memories aside. “I’m ready.” Fear was the only emotion he’d yet to feel on earth. What was there to fear? What was there left to lose? Nothing.

“You don't have to be ready.” Jade’s voice. Flat. Calm. “This isn’t your fight. It’s mine.” She turned to Az and put her hand on his chest, right over his heart. Her voice lowered as she said, “I’m not your salvation. Helping me isn’t gonna give you some free pass into heaven.”

Her scent slipped around him. His body hungered for hers. Needed.

“And I’m not going to be your temptation, either.” Now a thread of anger slipped into her voice. Anger. Hurt? “I’ve already been there and done that for another. Dammit, I’m more.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Poor Azrael. You think your job is to save the world.” Witch’s lips twisted as she turned her focus on Jade. “When you’re really just here to destroy it. Bit by slow bit.”

Bull. Az had done nothing but help since—

“Isn’t that what the legend says about you?” The witch taunted. “You and your brother Sammael—the two who fell from grace so they could wreck the world.”

Az lifted his brows. “That’s not exactly the way the story goes.”

“Close enough,” she murmured.

Eyes narrowed, Jade began to stalk toward the witch.

“The legend says that one day, a brother will be slain by another. When that day arrives, hell will come to claim the earth.”

Wasn’t that just a lovely tale to share? “Most legends are no more than lies,” Jade said, shrugging. “Good to scare kids and fun to entertain bored bitches—I mean, witches. Witches who don’t have enough power to see what will really be coming in the days ahead.”

“I already know his future.” Now the witch was talking to her, not Az, and her cheeks flushed red. “I saw it when he fell. I took his blood, and I saw what could be.”

Jade noted the phrasing. “There’s a big difference between what will be and what could be.” She could yank that claw like hand off Az. Or she could be a lady for a few more minutes.

“You need her. I get that.” And the witch was suddenly before him. “But everybody else needs you to hold it together. Don’t let that rage eating through your gut break free.” The witch’s eyes glittered. “Make the right choice. Change fate. Do you hear me, Fallen?”

Fate can’t be changed. All angels knew that. And he realized he’d just whispered the words by rote.

“Then I guess the angels are wrong. Or maybe those precious rules have changed.” Witch glanced up at the sky. “Maybe someone wants them to change.” Her gaze fell back on Az. “What do you want?”

Jade. Alive. Happy.

“I let you into her mind with that vision. You know what she wants.”  
“You know what you desire.” The witch sighed. “Now let’s see just what happens . . .”

He had the chance to save her, to save them all.

“I’m not a monster,” he whispered. No matter what he’d seen or . . . done in those dark images. He wasn’t . . .

Az raced around the graves. He turned to the left. His body shook and his heart seemed to burst through his chest.

He pushed forward with a furious blast of speed and saw them. The shifter—with his hands wrapped around Jade’s struggling body. The bastard’s claws were out. 

Az froze and stared at Jade. So beautiful. His frantic heartbeat began to slow. The shaking left his hands.

Az lifted the gun and pointed it at the shifter. “Let her go.”

The shifter’s eyes narrowed, and he made no move to free Jade. “You’re not going to shoot her.” The shifter’s voice mocked him as Jade twisted and shoved against her captor.

Such a fighter. She was the strongest woman he’d met. Human or Other. She made him want to be stronger, to be better.

I will be. He wouldn’t be the monster from the vision. He’d be the man that she needed him to be.

The shifter held her easily in his grasp. “You did this,” he told her, voice snarling. “You should’ve just been happy with me.”

Jade strained against him. “And you should have left my parents alone, you sick freak.” Her head turned back to Az. Her eyes held his. So many emotions shone in her stare. Determination. Love. Fury. No fear as she said, “Shoot.”

The shifter laughed. “He won’t—”

Because Az didn’t want to hurt her. He wanted to protect her. To keep her safe and keep her happy.

But he’d watched this scene before, and he was damn well getting a different ending. “I love you,” he told her, the words halting.

Her lips parted in surprise. “Wh—”

He would try to hurt her as little as possible. With his angel blood in her, he wasn’t sure what the bullet would do to her. I’m sorry, Jade.

Aiming carefully, Az fired. The bullet tore through Jade’s shoulder, ripping past flesh and muscle. She didn’t cry out, just watched him with eyes that saw straight into his soul.

The bullet drove through her—and sank into The shifter’s chest. The shifter staggered back, releasing Jade.

She fell to her knees. “Thank you,” she whispered as blood and a sliver of smoke spilled from her wound.  
The shifter hadn’t fallen to the ground. He was still on his feet and staring in shock at Az.

Guess I missed his heart. But he hadn’t wanted to risk aiming at any other location on Jade. If the shifter had moved her, had so much as jerked her a few inches . . .

My shot would have killed her.

The shifter’s bones began to pop and crack as he started to change. The guy thought he’d heal. That he’d attack and get stronger.

Not happening.

Az leapt forward. He pressed the gun right against the shifter’s heart. “I’m not losing her, and I’m not losing my sanity either.”

The shifter grabbed for the gun. Az had seen this scene before, too. Only he hadn’t been struggling with the shifter. He’d been battling Sam.

Change fate. He would do it.

Another bullet exploded from the gun. The shifter’s eyes widened, and he stumbled back. This time, he hit the ground. The shifter’s claws retracted. His fangs turned back into a man’s teeth. And his blood thickened on the earth.

“Jade?” The shifter whispered her name. “I’m . . . I’m sorry . . .” He broke off, gasping, and stared up at the sky.

Smoke rose from his chest. The brimstone bullets were burning him, from the inside out.

“Wanted . . . different . . .” Az could barely hear the shifter’s words now. He felt a touch on his arm and found Jade standing beside him. She stared down at The shifter, her body stiff, but her lips trembling.

“Guess . . .” The shifter’s breath wheezed out. “Can’t change . . .”  
Sometimes, you could.

The shifter stilled.

Az didn’t move. What if this were just another vision?

Be real. Because he didn’t want to live in a world without her. That truly would be hell.

Jade wrapped her left arm around him. “It’s over.” Her breath blew lightly on his neck. Her scent—sweet strawberries—filled his nose. She was warm against him. Soft, silken, alive.

He pulled her close. Held her as tight as he could. He’d been given something special tonight. A second chance he would have gladly traded his soul for.

Over her shoulder, he saw Sam walk out from behind a crypt. His brother stared down at the shifter’s unmoving body, then he waved his hand. Flames engulfed the body, a white-hot fire that would destroy all traces of the shifter.

The shifter wouldn’t be able to withstand the fire now—he was already gone. Only the empty shell of his body remained. He wouldn’t hurt anyone. Not ever again.

Az pressed a kiss to Jade’s temple.

“I told him you could handle things,” Sam said with a nod. “I knew the witch was just being a paranoid.” His brother sauntered past the fire.

His brother.

“Ouch,” Jade said as she pulled back a bit. His fingers had accidentally brushed her wounded shoulder. “You need to ease up a bit there, Fallen.” She offered him a half-smile that made his heart ache. The smile lit her eyes and made her dimple wink. “I’m wounded.”

He brushed back a lock of her dark hair. “I’m sorry.”

She pushed her hand over the wound. “Hey, I’m the one who told you to shoot. We had to take him out. Who knows what would have happened if—”

Az kissed her. Not a hot, wild kiss, though he knew that would come later. It had to. No, this kiss was soft. As gentle as he could be. He kissed her with tenderness and with love.

Because he knew exactly what would have happened.

He’d be seeing those images for years to come. Every time he closed his eyes, he’d see her die in his nightmares.

And he’d see his own destruction.

We can change.

Slowly, his lips left hers. She tasted sweet. Fresh. Like life.

Paradise.

Her lashes slowly lifted. “You saved me.”

Az shook his head. That hadn’t happened. Not at all. “Wrong, sweetheart. You were the one who saved me.” She’d stopped him from losing everything.

She was the bravest woman he knew. The one who’d reached right into his dark soul and made him need, made him want.

More than just death.

More than heaven.

Jade was everything


End file.
